The Fashion Informer

Random Questions For…Eugenia Kim

Becoming a milliner was a natural choice for designer Eugenia Kim because, as she explained it, “I'm impatient and a control-freak; hats are easy to make by yourself and you can make them quickly in under an hour.” 

The Type-A Kim launched her line of quirky toppers in 1998 after leaving Allure magazine, where she worked in the editorial, not fashion, department.  Within a week of leaving her day job, Kim – who had made her first hat in an attempt to keep her then-shaven head warm, not with the intent to start a business – had orders from several stores, including Bond 07 and Selima Optique.  A month later, she was in Barneys New York and a year after that, Kim had opened her own shop in the East Village, selling her men’s and women’s hats, along with a more surrealist couture and bridal collection.

She launched a shoe line in 2004 and today, Kim’s creations are sold in Barneys, Saks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and more than 100 boutiques worldwide - and she’s seen her hats grace the heads of Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Madonna, Eve and Nicole Kidman, among others.

Last week it was announced that Kim is releasing a limited-edition hat collection for Target, set to debut next April.  In the meantime, The Fashion Informer nabbed a few minutes with the effervescent designer to talk turkey (literally and figuratively).

So, Eugenia…

 

What is your favorite street in New York City?
Fourth Street—I have lived on this street for years and I know so many people who live on Fourth Street. 

Beverage of choice?
Diet Coke.

What’s your favorite guilty pleasure TV show?
Gossip Girl.

What websites do you read on a regular basis?
Gawker.com, Perezhilton.com; I like the snarky take on current events and gossip.

Tell me about your pet(s).
I had a tough little toy poodle named Cottonball Kim who I liked dressing up in biker outfits.

What form of exercise do you love?  Loathe?
I like anything competitive or games and winning- my favorite is tennis. I don't like yoga.

How old were you when you found out there was no Santa Claus?  Who told you?
I was 7 years old. I figured it out myself.  My mom was acting all shady about SC and I just knew.

Favorite Thanksgiving memory?
I remember our Korean Thanksgivings where we ate kimchee and rice alongside turkey and gravy and stuffing. It was always kind of gross when the two mixed on the same plate, like kimchee and gravy, gross but kind of good!

Do you cook?  If so, what’s your signature dish?
No, I'm really a bad cook. I'm ok at making kimchee bokum bap though (that is kimchee fried rice).

Do you remember who gave you your first kiss?  Do you know where he/she is today?
Yes and no.

You’ve mentioned that you’re accident-prone.  How so?
I fall on my face a lot and sometimes I mess up a hat, and then have to figure out how to make the accident look good. My accident-proneness forces me to be constantly creative. 

What’s your favorite movie of all time?
I don't know; it’s hard to choose one.

How would you like to be remembered?
Laughing.

What makes you nervous?
Rats in NYC and the gray zone - I like things black and white. 

When are you happiest?
When I'm creating or around my family.

 

Stay tuned next week for Random Questions For…Chris Benz

 

Informed Obsession: Equinox Greenwich Ave

Yes, this is a fashion site.  But what’s more fashionable than looking and feeling your best in everything you wear?  Not much.  Which is why we’ve been obsessed with the Equinox flagship at Greenwich Avenue since it opened back in 2002.  From the spacious, recently renovated layout (five floors, most awash in natural light) to the state-of-the-art equipment to the top-notch trainers and classes (Patricia Moreno’s Inten-Sati is a particularly grueling fave), this is as haute as an off-the-rack club gets (for more bespoke training, we’d recommend the E-Elite Training Program at Equinox’s Columbus Circle facility, which we did a few years back with great results).  But Equinox Greenwich Ave is where we go most days to rev up for the marathon that is Fashion Week, work off those extra Boom Boom-induced calories and stay slim enough to fit into our favorite Rick Owens. And when we’re sweating it out on the treadmill or doing yet another set of dips and feel our motivation slipping, we have only to look around the room and see stylish – and uber fit – members like Liya Kebede, Liv Tyler, Gretchen Mol and Keri Russell getting their sweat on, and we’re inspired to keep on keepin’ on.

Images courtesy Equinox

  

Live From New York, it's Victoria's Secret

As promised, here's our coverage of last night's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, with a surprise catwalk turn by new mom Heidi Klum, who just had her fourth child six weeks ago.  We should all be so genetically blessed.  

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will air December 1st on CBS.

Image courtesy Vogue.co.uk

 

Camilla Staerk Cuts a Rug

Camilla Staerk might’ve taken a hiatus from showing during New York Fashion Week in September, but that doesn’t mean she’s taken a hiatus from fashion. Far from it.

This month, she launched Staerk Signature, a collection of the pieces she’s best known for (you know, the ones clients ask for again and again, like her leather peak-waist pencil skirt and liquid jersey racer-back tank).  She’s edited Staerk Signature to eight core pieces per season – including, for fall, an oversized tux shirt, peplum belt, tank dress and Swiss dot t-shirt – in her signature hue (black), with plans to add white and a few archival prints down the road.

“My idea with Signature is to keep building it around a close communication with and feedback from my loyal clients,” Staerk told The Fashion Informer over brunch in Soho.  “People have often asked me to re-introduce the styles that they have been so happy with in the past and in which they would like to invest in again - or maybe they never got the chance to purchase these at the time. Now felt like the right time to launch Signature as its own entity, and be able to continuously offer, expand on and update my popular styles from across seasons.”

Also on the drawing board: a collaboration with Normann Copenhagen’s New Danish Modern line, which reinterpreted the African print Spine dress from Staerk’s spring 2009 collection (inspired by her favorite muse, Karen Blixen) into a strikingly graphic rug. 

“I have always hoped to one day also design for the home, so doing this rug was a very welcome challenge,” said Staerk. “Designing this rug felt like a natural process, and I so enjoyed being able to apply my vision to a different media than usual.”

“I wanted to aim for a result that would appeal to both men and women,” she added.  “Not too feminine, not too masculine - and not too loud either. I would not like a rug to take over the room.”

Like her clothing, Staerk’s rug is effortlessly elegant – and effortlessly cool.

Staerk is already working on additional home designs and plans to release her second Signature collection next summer.  In the meantime, she’s hard at work on two exciting new clothing and footwear collaborations, set to launch next year - though details are hush-hush (for now). Stay tuned, Staerk fans…

 

Images courtesy Camilla Staerk

  

Backstage at the Victoria's Secret Show

 

So tonight is the being billed as "the sexiest night of the year" by the Victoria's Secret fashion show folks (auf Weidersehen, Valentine's Day) and things were definitely heating up over at the Lexington Avenue Armory this morning, where we checked into the press tent to get a photo ID, made our way past a bomb-sniffing dog (yes, really), down a hallway past a display case full of Nazi memorabilia (yes, really), and up to the fifth floor, which is where the Angels starring in tonight's show where undergoing their transformation from drop dead gorgeous to, well, whatever's even hotter than drop dead gorgeous.  

And that's where we rubbed elbows (easy there, fellas) with Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes, Miranda Kerr, Behati Prinsloo, Chanel Iman, Caroline Trentini, Julia Stegner, Sessilee Lopez, Liu Wen, Anja Rubik, Isabeli Fontana, Rosie Huntington, Caroline Winberg and a slew of other A-list models, who'll be doffing their usual designer finery in favor of a pretty scanties and a pair of angel wings. 

No word yet on what host Heidi Klum will be wearing this year, though we're told she won't be sporting anything as lavish as the $12 million Victoria's Secret diamond and ruby bra she wore back when the economy was still as robust as her (ahem) assets.

But enough blah blah, here are some images from the scene backstage.  Our full show report will follow this evening.  Until then, enjoy!

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden

   

Diesel: What the What?!

Ummm, could somebody please explain this to me?  Seriously, who at Diesel thought this was a good idea?  I mean, this guy's cute, but he is in desperate need of some manscaping.

Image courtesy Diesel/WWD

Lorenzo Martone and Ryan Brown Celebrate ARC NY

 

After announcing that they were founding ARC NY, a talent PR firm dedicated to repping models' off-the-runway endeavors (singing, acting, branding, endorsements, licensing deals and the like), former Elite marketing director Ryan Brown and Chandelier Creative consultant Lorenzo Martone celebrated with an intimate soiree in the new downtown digs they share with public relations whiz Georgia Mack's new start-up, Rio PR, which drew the likes of Olivia Palermo, Russell Simmons, Lydia Hearst, Alessandra Ambrosio, Julie Hendersen, Jessica White and Marc Jacobs (aka, Martone's fiance).  

We'll be covering their new venture in more detail in a few days, but in the meantime, here are some party pics. 

Images courtesy Lorenzo Martone/ARC NY

  

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!

Fittingly, it was a grey and drizzly day last Thursday, when eleven London-based designers hopped the pond to stage a daylong meet-and-greet in the penthouse of the Soho Grand Hotel, where they introduced their spring/summer 2010 collections to American press and buyers.

The well-organized event was hosted by London’s Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), a business incubator that supports and nurtures emerging fashion designers via funding and mentorship programs (think of them as a more hands-on CFDA), and it drew the likes of Joanna Sykes, Meadham Kirchhoff and Michelle Obama’s latest label du jour, Peter Pilotto. 

In addition to Sykes’ luxury basics, Meadham Kirchhoff’s delicately deconstructed street chic, and the painterly sculpted creations of Peter Pilotto and his partner, Christopher de Vos, we were pleased to get an up-close-and-personal look at the tough luxe leather, lace and denim designs of Felder Felder twins, Daniella and Annette, who were inspired this season by twin muses: Fight Club’s Marla Singer and Madonna’s Blonde Ambition Tour.

Flame-haired Scottish native Louise Gray walked us through her colorful, wonderfully energetic collection (dubbed “Oh No, Babe, Sorry ‘Bout That” and inspired by 1980s London graffiti artists, with killer accessories designed in collaboration with stylist Judy Blame and trash bag shoes done with Nicholas Kirkwood), while Natascha Stolle reworked old-school fabrics – embroidered tweed, flock printed brocade, double-faced crepe – into thoroughly modern silhouettes. 

Hannah Marshall offered a fresh take on the eighties power look with architectural leather minis and sexy Lycra catsuits, Eun Jeong went in a more ethereal direction with her all white, lavishly embellished, 16^th century ballet-inspired collection (two pieces of which will be featured in Lady Gaga’s next video), and William Tempest looks poised to give Roland Mouret a run for his money, judging from the beautifully constructed leather-and-stingray corset dresses and impeccably contoured duchess silk jumpsuits he designed, which were inspired by the Crazy Horse in Paris and forties lingerie ads, resulting in an extremely powerful – and empowering – collection.

Aminka Wilmot design duo Maki Aminaka Lofvander and Marcus Wilmot looked to modern dance and a decrepit building outside London for an elegantly edgy collection awash in twisted, chain-draped, figure flattering shapes and moody prints that do, indeed, evoke charred wood, water-damaged fabric and peeling paint. All of it yummy - and all of it made and manufactured in London.

Also mining a tough-yet-tender vein is Jean-Pierre Braganza’s “Psychadelactica” collection; though he ventured a little further afield – outer space by way of Haight Ashbury, to be precise – before returning to earth bearing wondrous gifts. By which we mean Geiger-esque digital print dresses, leather paneled pants, a sensually slouchy fuchsia crepe blazer and razor-sharp black-and-white sheaths that make it clear that the future is now.

In fact, all of the designers we met at this showcase made us hopeful for the future of fashion. Bravo to the CFE for spearheading this stylish cultural exchange. 

Image of Jean-Pierre Braganza (above) © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden.
All other images courtesy Alistair Guy. 

Sophie Theallet Wins 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund

And the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner is (drumroll, please): Sophie Theallet, who was nominated along with Alabama Chanin's Natalie Chanin, Ohne Titel's Flora Gill and Alexa Adams, George Esquivel, Gary Graham, Waris Ahluwalia, Simon Spurr and Wayne Lee. 

Theallet's prize: $200,000 plus a year of mentoring from an established CFDA designer. Runners-up Monique Péan (who designs jewelry) and Patrick Ervell (menswear) were each awarded $50,000. Congrats to all! 

And don't forget Alber Elbaz's words of wisdom, kids: "Success is like a bottle of perfume. Smell it - don't sniff it and don't drink it."

Image courtesy Norman Jean Roy/Vogue

“Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze” Exhibit Opens in Phoenix

 

“The unimaginable always becomes the unforgettable,” said Geoffrey Beene. The same might be said of Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze, a new exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum that pays tribute to the late designer’s oeuvre.

Interestingly, the exhibit draws on a single source: the private collection of Patsy Tarr, founder of the magazine 2wice and longtime friend and client of Beene, with whom she shared a mutual love of dance. 

Showcasing 37 ready-to-wear and one-of-a-kind styles from the 1980s and 90s (including the quilted silk gown Tarr wore to the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute “Goddess” Gala in 2003), Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze also pays homage to the designer’s love of the circus - hence the abundance of ruffles, polka dots, bold graphic prints and the whimsical, suspended-from-the-ceiling clothing displays. In addition, Tom Kalin’s film, 30, a surrealist film noir commissioned by Beene in 1993, will play on a continuous loop.

“No part of a Beene wardrobe was ever out of style; indeed subsequent purchases simply revealed his ideas in more depth,” said Tarr. “And, of course, there was the originality, the wit, the materials and lightness. Beene’s clothes were masterly, unusual and rare.” 

"Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze" will be on view at the Phoenix Art Museum through March 7, 2010.

Images courtesy the Phoenix Art Museum